US forces deny knowledge of mystery missile

[Magda Hassan]

US forces deny knowledge of mystery missile

• Michael Evans
  
• From: Times Online
  
• November 10, 2010 8:39AM
  

The Pentagon is trying to find out who fired what appears to be a missile off the Californian coast. Source: AP



THE Pentagon was scrambling last night to discover who fired a missile off the Californian coast, 56km west of Los Angeles, without any warning.

The huge rocket, heading in a northwesterly direction, roughly parallel to the coastline, was captured on video by a television crew in a helicopter as it streaked skywards from an apparent launch platform in the Pacific Ocean.
The plume of smoke, which stretched thousands of feet into the sky, had all of the hallmarks of a missile launch from a submarine or ship. However, the Pentagon insisted that no military rocket launch had taken place.
The CBS news crew who had been monitoring traffic along the Californian coast turned their camera towards the plume and a long object at the head of the contrail is clearly visible in the footage.
A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command, which has the responsibility of monitoring any air or spaceborne object, said that the mysterious object posed no threat to the US. A full investigation was under way into what the rocket was and where it came from, a spokesman for the Pentagon said.
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Doug Richardson, the editor of Jane's Missiles and Rockets, told The Times after examining the video: "It's a solid propellant missile, you can tell from the efflux [smoke]. But they're not showing enough of the tape to show whether it's staging [jettisoning sections]."
He said that if it was a ballistic missile it would have been launched from a submarine. But he suggested that it might have been a Standard interceptor, the anti-missile weapon that is fitted to the US Navy's Aegis guided-missile cruisers as part of the American missile defence programme.
However, Colonel David Lapan, a spokesman for the Pentagon, was adamant that every branch of the US armed forces had been contacted and the Navy, the Air Force and the Missile Defence Agency all denied being involved in a launch on Monday night when the rocket was spotted.
Colonel Lapan said that no missile could be launched without formal notification to warn air and sea traffic in good time. He said that there had been no notification of a missile launch on Monday night. The Federal Aviation Administration also said that no approval had been given for a commercial launch of a rocket.
Colonel Lapan said that "a lot of people" were trying to find out what it could have been. "At this point we're not confirming that it was a [missile] launch. So far we can't explain it."
The Pentagon's denial of any involvement appeared to rule out the suggestion offered by Robert Ellsworth, the former US Deputy Secretary of Defence, that it could have been a missile test timed as a demonstration of American military might as President Obama toured Asia. "It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine ... to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," MrEllsworth said.
The only recent official launch of a missile took place on Friday, when a long-range rocket was fired from Vandenberg Air Force base in California. All of the proper notifications and warnings were issued before the launch. About a week ago, the Japanese Navy carried out a test-firing of an American Standard interceptor from a Kongo-class guided-missile destroyer off Kauai, in Hawaii. The Japanese are retro-fitting their Kongo-class destroyers with the American anti-missile system. But there were no known plans for a further test this week.
"We've checked and, so far, the initial information is that there were no defence activities on Monday night that could explain what looked like a contrail off the coast of California," Colonel Lapan said.
Boeing occasionally launches aircraft from San Nicolas Island, off the California coast, as part of its anti-missile laser testing programmes, but Daniel Beck, a spokesman for the company, said that it was not involved.
The Times
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/wor...5950681486

[Charles Drago]

This is a very significant action, deeply political by its very nature.

[Ed Jewett]

Aside from the usual speculation of Space Wars trials in response to recent Chinese deep-space launches and in follow-up to our own of an autonomous robotic mini-shuttle with orbital and return capacities, the cute musings about things extra-terrestrial, an aside to contrails, bad photography, etc., I submit the following two recent articles:



Israel's pillars of Samson: not quite Armageddon but... By Alan Sabrosky

11 August 2010

Alan Sabrosky considers the relationship between the subservience of successive US presidents, including Barack Obama, to Israel and Israel’s ongoing access to US nuclear codes and systems, and its ability to override safeguards in the US to obtain command and control over at least US land-based strategic nuclear systems.

As the US edges toward an unprovoked and utterly needless war with Iran, some remarks by an eminent and experienced observer of that part of the world caught my attention. First, he noted that “Israel and the US realize that the next war will burn much of the Middle East and may well spell the end of Israel.”

Now, Israel certainly believes that about the Middle East, and in fact hopes it happens, because that just makes its position stronger. But neither Israel nor the US – at least at a government level – accept the second part of the proposition, just the opposite, that in fact it will be the saving of Israel – because (as I’ve noted elsewhere) if the regional chaos is great enough, Israel will take the opportunity to ethnically cleanse all Palestinians (and probably Israeli Arabs as well) from “Greater Israel” by shoving them over its borders, into Jordan and the Sinai (and some into the Lebanon as well). That will leave it intact and Jewish, its neighbours overwhelmed by a few million destitute Palestinians – a second and even worse Nakba – and everyone else in ruins or teetering on the edge. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and their merry thugs won’t shed a tear or lose a second’s sleep over any of it, much less over the many Americans who will die in yet another of America’s Jewish wars.

Second, he remarked that “Every week Israel becomes weaker vis-a-vis the 'resistance axis' and at what point does Israel decide to bring down the house and start again if it can survive with enough military power (backed by the US) to remake the region.”

“... Israel defines its usable power (and therefore its security) not only in terms of what it has, but also what it can command from its “most favoured goyim”, or gentiles, in the US – and that, now, is virtually everything.” But I simply don’t see Israel getting weaker, just more beleaguered, which is not the same thing. We need to keep in mind that Israel defines its usable power (and therefore its security) not only in terms of what it has, but also what it can command from its “most favoured goyim”, or gentiles, in the US – and that, now, is virtually everything. We know about Israel’s control of the Congress and the media, and I think people on our side generally understand about their control of political appointments that absolutely keep opponents of Israel out of office – the Chas Freeman incident ought to have been telling. The American public, unfortunately, is almost absolutely clueless about the whole enterprise, thanks to the prevailing dominant theme they get from the president, national politicians, the press and mostly the Protestant pulpit.

Yet it goes beyond that. The fate of White House correspondent Helen Thomas and 20-year CNN editor Octavia Nasr has sent a signal to absolutely every journalist in the print and electronic media that any attempt to cross even slightly Israel’s line (which is what Nasr did), much less question Israel’s basic premise (as Thomas did), means total and almost instantaneous professional ruin. If senior people like them can be chopped in hours, what chance does a rising younger journalist have? None at all. This is along the lines of the old French saying (I translate roughly), “Shoot a few to encourage the others,” in this case encourage them to behave or at least to keep silent and not misbehave (as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, and company define misbehaviour). So, the American public will continue to hear, see and read just what Israel wants, barring a small if growing number who do get at least some of their news from the internet.

Sadly, it is mostly the same for the US military now as well. The sequential sacking on overlapping grounds of Admiral William Fallon, Admiral (ret.) Dennis Blair and General Stanley McChrystal (and the concurrent enhancement of Admiral Michael Mullen and General David Petraeus) has sent the same signal to the professional military, and not just the generals and admirals. Question official policy (Fallon), do not conform to the administration (i.e. Israeli) priorities (Blair and Fallon), or speak openly (however unwisely) what almost all professional military here feel about this hapless commander-in-chief and his Zionist amateurs in the White House (McChrystal), and your careers are done, no matter how distinguished they might have been. So behave – and almost all will, knowing absolutely now that they’ll have no effective support from the generals and admirals if they don’t.

“...Israel has had ongoing access for decades to US nuclear codes and systems, and may well be able to override safeguards here to obtain command and control (and therefore targeting and launch capabilities) over at least US land-based strategic nuclear systems." Besides, putting lots of discrete pieces together, including published information on Israeli penetration of the telecommunications, security and cybernetic systems in the US since the 1970s and 1980s, the movement of Israelis (with or without dual nationality) or American Jews serving Israel across the US and Israeli governments and lobbies like AIPAC, and the presence of Israelis (again with or without dual nationality) and American Jews serving Israel throughout the US national security apparatus for decades (remember the far-from-unique stories of Lani Kass or David Wurmser, much less the likes of “Scooter” Libby or Rahm Emanuel?), one thing seems painfully clear to me. This is that Israel has had ongoing access for decades to US nuclear codes and systems, and may well be able to override safeguards here to obtain command and control (and therefore targeting and launch capabilities) over at least US land-based strategic nuclear systems.

Think about it. With those technical means, oversight of security and especially in-place human assets, Israel would have had to make a deliberate decision NOT to acquire that access and obtain those capabilities in order not to have them now, and that flies in the face of everything else Israel has done in its national security and espionage fields. That may be the club Israel holds over US presidents, and it would certainly explain a host of otherwise inexplicable actions by them. Understanding the actual dynamics of this phenomenon and how to counter them must have the highest priority.

Alan Sabrosky (PhD, University of Michigan) is a 10-year US Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the US Army War College. He can be contacted at <a href="mailto:docbrosk@comcast.net">docbrosk@comcast.net. A version of this article was originally published on My Catbird Seat. The version here is published by permission of Alan Sabrosky.

##

This previously-posted piece by Gordon Duff:

http://redactednews.blogspot.com/2010/11...k-and.html

"On April 21, 2009, the Department of Defense announced the theft of 1.5 terabytes of data on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the platform meant give the United States and her allies air superiority for the next 40 years.....

Every weapon design, yes, our stealth aircraft capabilities and our NATO battle plans were among the truckload of papers Pollard sold to Israel, a country where he is considered a national hero. Pollard may have been our last “paper” spy. Everything today is electronic and spies who steal American secrets can be compared to unruly chatroom members or video game enthusiasts.

Despite the “cute” attempt by the Department of Defense and Secretary Gates to refer to espionage as “hacking,” there is nothing either innocent or harmless about it. As all data is formatted for electronic media and secured by firewalls and passwords, all espionage is “hacking.”

snip

"The first place we look, before new Russian, Indian, Iranian or Chinese version of the F-35 take flight or our first F-35 meets a fiery end is Israel. No Chinese or Pakistani’s or Iranians have gained by the F-35 espionage “clone” operations styled after “Wikileaks.” Wikileaks has proven one thing, there is a major spy operation in the Pentagon with broad access. It is immune to investigation. Only political power can generate this kind of protection.

Assange is a recipient of information he likely believes is real. Our investigations prove different. The Pentagon leaks were carefully edited, thousands of reports were reconstructed and falsified and hundreds of thousands were removed as inconsistent with an unknown political agenda. This requires full access to Pentagon computer systems, PROMIS software and hundreds of man hours.
It requires, in fact, a broad spy operation inside the Pentagon that enjoys its ability to operate with impunity. Wikileaks carries an Israeli signature, the leaks damn only Israeli enemies, shield Israeli operations and are time to serve Israeli interests. Hundreds of Israeli citizens work in the Pentagon. None of this should be a surprise to anyone.
The F-35 debacle is exactly the same. Where there was some cursory discussion of investigation Wikileaks, the F-35 thefts were, can we say “forgiven?”
Source: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/11/02/...-cover-up/

[Magda Hassan]

Absolutely Charles!
Bring to mind the following:
Any relation to the recent nuclear missiles going off line?
Who let off the missile?
If they know, why did it happen?
If they don't know, why don't they?
Not the US navy? Whose navy then? And again, why? And why don't the US know with all that 'intel'?

[Peter Lemkin]

'They' in Government and the Military would long have us believe that any such missile firing would be detected and its ownership known within seconds [if not before] by undersea detectors, radar and satellites - perhaps other sensor systems. That this took place just offshore of the second largest city [911 scare at the largest] is likely not a mistake - on someone's part.....why waste all that theatre on some little isolated bit 'o coastline....why not scare the crap out of the most people possible - and the Nation. I also can't believe the US Navy would allow anyone with a craft large enough to fire a missile from on the water or below it to just be around without being noticed. I used to live in San Diego [just south of L.A.] which is a major MAJOR naval base [there are smaller ones at L.A. itself]. That part of the ocean is crawling with navy subs, ships and aircraft. This was no secret - except to the Public, IMO.

[David Guyatt]

A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command, which has the responsibility of monitoring any air or spaceborne object, said that the mysterious object posed no threat to the US.

Ergo, they must know what it is, and who was responsible for it, to know it was not a threat.

The "no threat" used to be the line given for UFO sightings btw.

[Magda Hassan]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breakin...5950540060

Now they're saying they cannot rule out a threat. Why let a good opportunity go to waste when they could justify their miserable existence.

THE Pentagon said a missile launch off the southern coast of California remained "unexplained" and that its mysterious origins meant that it was not possible to rule out any threat to the homeland. Earlier yesterday, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and NORTHCOM (United States Northern Command) officials told Fox there was no threat.
However, Pentagon Spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan would not confirm that because the military does not know what the missile was or where it came from.
Col Lapan added that the incident did not appear to be a regularly scheduled test, as no warnings to mariners or airmen appeared to be issued ahead of its launch.
The contrail was caught on camera by a KCBS news helicopter at around sunset Monday evening, approximately 50km out to sea and west of Los Angeles.
The missile appeared to be launched from the water, and not from US soil, Col Lapan added.
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The military was trying to solve the mystery using the video from KCBS as there was no indication that NORAD and NORTHCOM were able to detect it independently.
According to Fox News, NORAD and NORTHCOM would only say they were aware of the launch.
However one unnamed senior defense official added: "There was no threat to the homeland."
A navy spokesperson previously told KCBS that no navy activity was reported in the region.
A sergeant at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County said a Delta II rocket was launched from the base last Friday, but insisted there were no launches since then.
On viewing the footage, former deputy defense secretary Robert Ellsworth speculated on KCBS that the launch could be a show of military muscle.
"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine ... to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," Mr Ellsworth said.

[Peter Lemkin]

On viewing the footage, former deputy defense secretary Robert Ellsworth speculated on KCBS that the launch could be a show of military muscle.
"It could be a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine ... to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that," Mr Ellsworth said.

That makes NO sense. They know all too well that American ships, land-based and submarine [maybe even starwars] missiles are fully capable of being launched and launched at anyone at anytime.... Further, why would you do such an unnecessary show of force to foreigners off the L.A. Coast if not to scare the roller-skaters, muscle-builders, chainsaw-jugglers and other odd sorts on the Venice boardwalk?

[Keith Millea]

I think that was Timothy Leary's ashes being sent to outer space.:alberteinstein:

[Peter Lemkin]

I think that was Timothy Leary's ashes being sent to outer space.:alberteinstein:

Again?!